RKO Jefferson Theatre

214 E. 14th Street,

New York,
NY10003

I used to work in the Gramercy Park area and on nice days would venture down to 14th to get an ice cream sandwich, with freshly cooked waffles, at Mc Clellans. The Jefferson was closed the entire time I worked there. I remember thinking it odd that the name was right justified. Aha! When RKO left the owner took down those initials just leaving the Jefferson part. A slow decline. Sad.

Thanks to everyone who posted on the Jefferson Theater. I grew up in that neighborhood and was practically a weekly patron of that theater and others in that area. I attended many, many vaudeville shows on weekends that were performed after the movies were shown and I would sit right in front of the orchestra. It was absolutely stunning and unforgettable for a kid of 4â€"10 years. And all this for 25 cents! I saw fabulous acts that left indelible imprints in my mind and given me a profound love for live theater. The Academy of Music also had spectacular live shows which I attended.

I would like to know when the last vaudeville show

I came to this site because I’m contemplating producing vaudeville on a very small scale where I now live in Oregon and the authenticity I visualize comes primarily from my experiences at the Jefferson Theater. There are many talented people who, like in the old days, would like an opportunity to showcase their art. A live small orchestra/band with a minimum of piano, trombone, trumpet, drums and bass can pull it off.

Thanks again and keep the information flowing on this site that I’ve bookmarked.

I live right behind where the theater was and watched it getting ripped down. It was such a sad thing.

In Harpo Marx’s “Harpo Speaks” Marx mentions that he came up with his nonspeaking act while performing on 13th Street, because he had difficulty remembering his lines. It would make sense that he thought it up at the Jefferson.

I think the porn theater mentioned above was Variety Photoplays, which had an amazing old marquee that can also be seen in “Taxi Driver.”

Glad that the site has been put to such productive, high-valued-added use. It’ll probably sit empty for another five years, at least, in this economy. Wonder what the developer paid, what his mortgage is like and how much he’s shelling out to the city in the way of property taxes every 90 days. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Oh wait. I know. “NYU can bail me out…In fact, it’ll be able to use money from `the stimulus package' to erect yet another dormitory, with tax-free assistance from the New York State Dormitory Authority.” What a joke.

From the May 10, 1046 NYC edition of the (Communist) Daily Worker RKO Jefferson 14 St. & 3rd Ave.:

Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman
“Bells of St. Mary’s”

Question: photos of the facade of the Jefferson posted by Thomas in May 2005: would a theater as famous as B.F. Keith’s Vaudeville house really have been only as wide across as the facade in the photo suggests in its heyday? I will have to change my mental image (or at least the ones provided me by “the movies”) of what the approach to B.F. Keith’s might have been. Thank you.

The Jefferson was probably the toughest house in Manhattan because it was adjacent to a very tough neighborhood, the Gashouse District. And its vaudeville attendance would have dwindled when thousands of people were evicted from their homes to make way for Stuyevsant Town beginning in 1945. The first resident in Stuy Town didn’t move in until 1947-1948.

From Nathan Silver’s “Lost New York”:
“(the Jefferson)…After it became linked to the big time Keith circuit in 1920, its players included The Marx Brothers, Mae West, Jack Benny & Fred Allen. ‘The Jefferson was considered the toughtest house in New York’ said George Burns in his book, "Gracie.” It was a movie house from the 30’s through 60’s and finally demolished in 1999."